


MTJ

by QueenieLacy



Category: All Elite Wrestling, Professional Wrestling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Asshole Chris Jericho, Betrayal, Blackmail, Brandi is the voice of reason, Break Up, Explicit Language, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Hurt Cody, Hurt MJF, M/M, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-16 09:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21505963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenieLacy/pseuds/QueenieLacy
Summary: Chris finally decides to use the card in back pocket and not so kindly gets MJF on his side...he's got a championship to retain and a company to take over after all. Cody's heart is the last thing on his "things to worry about" list.
Relationships: Cody Rhodes/Maxwell Jacob Friedman
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	MTJ

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still not over the Cody/MJF breakup and now I'm just creating excuses for MJF lol

MJF walked through the curtain to the backstage area. The cocky smile replaced with a deep frown as he walked toward the back door. He already had his things packed up in his car and he was ready to get in it and leave. He didn’t want to be in the building anymore. He didn’t want to be here when Cody was brought backstage and he certainly didn’t want to be confronted by any of Cody’s friends. They would probably be in Cody’s ear tonight, saying how they were right about him and how they knew he was a good for nothing gold digger and a fame whore. That wasn’t him. That wasn’t him at all.

It was too bad Cody would never know that.

“Hey! My man, MJ!” 

Maxwell stopped and took in a deep breath. He didn’t know if there was a God but if there was, he asked them for patience as he turned to Chris Jericho and his inner circle.

Chris quickly closed the distance between them, his title on his shoulder and a bottle of bubbly in one hand. “Hey! Where are you going? We’re partying.”

“It’s done. I’m leaving.” Max explained but Chris scoffed.

“Come on, man! It’s a happy time! I’m still the champ, put a smile on your face!” He said before clasping Max’s shoulder.

Max shook him off before rolling his eyes. “I did what you asked but make no mistake, we are not friends. We are not family-.”

“I’ll let you sulk tonight.” Chris spoke as he moved to invade Max’s space. “But your attitude better change. This isn’t finished...and we’ll always be family.” He spoke before patting Max’s cheek. “See you later.” He said before turning back to his boys. “Let’s par-tay!” Chris yelled and Max’s nose flared as he watched Chris walk off. He let out a frustrated sigh before turning on his heels to leave. He suddenly heard a bit of commotion and assumed it was because Cody had finally arrived backstage. Max picked up the pace, damn near running toward the exit. He pushed the heavy metal door open and stepped outside, the cold air stinging his face as he walked to his car. He slid inside of the town car and quickly made his way out of the parking lot and onto the highway. As he drove, memories of the weeks prior played in his mind.

_ MJF walked into the shitty diner, clearly out of place in his light colored suit and Burberry scarf. He should be in the hotel lounge with Cody, starting their date night out with a drink, but he had to take care of this. He lied to Cody, saying his bank called and he was going to a local branch to sort out some business. He was glad Cody was slightly distracted by his phone. Max kissed Cody on the cheek as his phone call with Tony Khan dragged on and quickly left before his love asked any questions.  _

_ Max looked around the small room and found the person he was looking for. He moved toward the back of the room to the final booth in the corner of the diner. He frowned as he sat down across from the man in the booth. “Let’s make this quick. What do you want?” _

_ “Damn, man.” Chris Jericho chuckled as he picked up his coffee cup. “Relax, order some food. We have a lot to catch up on.” _

_ “No, we don’t.” MJF corrected him. “If you’re just doing this to torture me and have fun, then I’m leaving.” He explained and turned to leave. _

_ “Maxwell Jacob Friedman...that’s a nice man, very creative. MJF...very catchy. Does Cody know that’s not your real name?” Jericho questioned, smirking as Max turned back to face him. “Does he know that you lied to him about who you are? That you were really born MTJ...Maxwell Theodore Jericho?” He took a sip from his coffee and then made a face of disgust. “Uh, watered down shit…” He placed the cup down and looked up to see Max scowling at him. “I’ll take that as a no...nephew.” _

_ “What do you want?” Max asked again, his patience wearing thin.  _

_ Jericho smiled. “You’re going to help me retain my title and take over AEW.” _

_ Max scoffed. “Why would I do that?” _

_ “How do you think Cody is going to feel when he finds out you’re my nephew? Hm?” Jericho asked. “He’ll think you were a spy, sent by me to get information. He’ll think you never loved him, never even liked him, that everything was just a job to you.” _

_ “No…” _

_ Jericho nodded. “Yes, my nephew...and I’ll make sure that’s exactly what he thinks. Beyond the baby photos of you and I at Christmas...I can make it look like you've been working with me this whole time.”  _

_ Max hated to admit it, but Chris was right. Cody would feel betrayed by his actions and question his true intentions. He knew his uncle had connections and was quite savvy. Max knew Chris could get pictures, audio, videos and whatever else he needed to convince Cody that he’d been an agent for Jericho all along.  _

_ “Look at it like this…” Jericho started. “Either way, he’s going to leave you. At least this way he’ll just think you’re an asshole...and you’ll have your loving uncle’s shoulder to cry on.” _

_ "Fuck you.”  _

_ “That’s no way to speak to your uncle.” Jericho joked before leaning in toward Max. “So, this is what I want you to do...” _

* * *

Cody groaned as he laid on the hotel bed, tossing the ice pack off the cut over his eye and onto the nightstand. He rolled over to his side and naturally reached out for his boyfriend, only to find it empty. He let out another groan as the events of the night replayed in his mind. He didn’t care about MJF throwing in the towel, Cody couldn’t care less about the title right now. It was what happened after that bothered him. Maxwell kicking him while he was down, literally and emotionally. He just couldn’t wrap his mind around the change in attitude. They were good, better than good, or so Cody thought. 

Cody replayed their relationship in his mind in order to figure out what went wrong, what had he done to turn Maxwell away from him? Why didn’t he just say something? Max knew how he felt about him. He would have changed, done anything and everything to keep his Maxwell happy.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a knock on his door. Cody let out his third groan of the night. He didn’t really feel like having company tonight. It was more than likely Nick, Matt and Adam. Kenny might of tagged along if he didn’t feel too beat up from his match with Moxley. He knew his friends just wanted to make him feel better, but he already knew what they were going to say. They were going to say that he didn’t need Max and that Max was an idiot for leaving him. They would run down Max and say he was no good anyway. That he was just using him or that he was a brat that didn’t really love him, but Cody refused to believe that. Max did love him, at least for a time...or maybe he was just an idiot in love.

“Cody, I know you’re in there. I can hear you thinking. Your loud thoughts are keeping the entire hotel up.” Cody smiled for the first time since Max turned on him when he heard Brandi’s comment. Of course it was something Brandi would say. She was his best friend, and she knew how to get him out of a tough place. In an alternate world, where he was attracted to women, Brandi would probably be his wife. 

Cody rolled out of the king size bed and walked over to the door to let Brandi in. She was standing there in sweats holding snacks and a bottle of wine. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to talk and eat or drink until you forgot.” She shrugged before pushing past Cody and making her way into the room. 

“Neither.” Cody answered as he closed and locked the door behind her. “I want to lay in bed and think some more.” He said and made his way back to the bed, throwing himself face down onto the bed and letting out a sigh. 

“I thought you’d say that.” Brandi said as she sat in the chair across from the bed. She threw a pack of cookies onto the bed for Cody before opening her own bag of chips. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Nothing ever does.” Cody responded before rolling over onto his back to look up at the ceiling. Brandi raised an eyebrow at his dramatics but decided not to kick him while he was down.

“I mean.” Brandi started as she reached into his bag for chips. “You and MJ were that disgusting couple.”

“Thanks…” Cody deadpanned.

“You know what I mean, sickeningly sweet and perfect.” Brandi explained in between bites. “He was MJ and you were his Peter Parker.”

“I’m actually shocked you know anything about Spider-Man.” Cody quipped and Brandi sighed.

“I had a great comeback for that but I’m going to save it for when you’re not so...down.” Brandi said and returned to the topic at hand. “But Max...this shift in attitude is way too quick. The other day, I went shopping with him and we were talking about the future and you were in it.” She explained as she thought back to their conversation. 

“Maybe he lied to you.” Cody offered but Brandi shook her head. 

“I saw it in his eyes. The way he looked when he talked about you.” She added with a sigh. 

“I’ve been trying to figure out why.” Cody explained. “What could I have possibly done to make him feel this way.”

“This is isn’t on you, Cody.” Brandi reasoned but Cody wasn’t listening.

“I had to do something.” Cody insisted. “Like you said, the change in attitude was too quick. I made him mad somehow.”

“Okay let’s say you made him mad.” Brandi started, playing into Cody’s explanation. “This still isn’t the way he would have handled it. Most likely, he would give you the passive-aggressive treatment and not put out for a while.” Brandi reasoned and Cody was not about to admit to her that she was more than likely right. He rolled over, his back to Brandi as he stared off into space.

Brandi hated seeing her friend hurt like this. Cody didn’t deserve this and MJF wouldn’t have done what he did without a reason. “Had he been acting weird lately?” He asked softly as she gazed at Cody’s back.

“Not…” Cody trailed off as he thought about the past few days. He had noticed some changes in Max. “Yeah...but in a good way.”

“Like what?”

“Like.” Cody turned over to face Brandi. “He was more affectionate...touchy-feely even kissing me in front of everyone at the last production meeting.” Cody explained.

“Okay, that just makes it weirder.” Brandi threw hands up at the confusion. “You normally distance yourself before a break up, not get closer.”

“Yeah well…” Cody sighed as he turned away from Brandi again, tuning her out as she rattled off various theories and reasons for the breakup. He was partially happy for Brandi’s logic and reasoning, but the other part of him just wanted to wallow in his room with all the lights off. “Just let me sulk.” Cody pleaded, cutting Brandi off. 

“No.” Brandi answered as she stood from the chair. She looked around the room and grabbed the remote control before crawling onto the bed next to Cody. “We’re going to watch shitty TV and you’re going to cry, vent, or whatever but you’re going to emote.” Brandi explained. “Emoting is healthy.”

“I am emoting...by sulking.” He explained and Brandi grabbed Cody’s shoulder and forced him onto his back so she could see his face. 

“Cody…” She trailed off and Cody finally gave in.

“I love him Brandi.” Cody felt tears forming in his eyes. “And even after what he did, I still love him.” He admitted and let out a chuckle. “I’m a fucking idiot, aren’t I?”

“Not at all. You can’t just put down your feelings that easily.” She explained.

“But he did.” Cody mumbled before letting a tear fall. Brandi felt her heart break at the sight of her best friend hurting. She knew what she had to do and Brandi was determined to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

Max had managed to find a changing room far away from everyone else at the show. It was the end of the night and he had successfully dodged Cody and his friends. Unlike his normally flashy self, he actually didn’t want to be the center of attention. He didn’t want to face his friends, they would no doubt attempt to kick his ass and he couldn’t fight off multiple people at once, and he definitely couldn’t face Cody. Even though it had been a few weeks, it was still too fresh for him to even think about facing Cody.

MJF looked at his reflection in the mirror. He looked awful. Heavy bags and dark circles had formed under his eyes due to his lack of sleep. He hadn’t been able to get more than a couple hours a night. The bed was too cold and empty, missing the burning furnace that was Cody Rhodes. It didn’t help that his conscious kept him up at night, replaying the betrayal over and over again his mind. The normally polished MJF had thrown on a basic black suit that had a few wrinkles in it. He was ordered by his loving uncle to join him at some nightclub to talk after the show, so he wasn’t looking to impress him or anyone else.

Max huffed as he grabbed his bag. He couldn’t delay the meeting any longer. He threw his bag onto the bench and started to rummage through it, looking for his scarf, when the door to the room flew open. He quickly looked up, expecting to find Jericho or another inner circle member. Instead, he looked up to see Brandi standing in the doorway.

“Fuck…” He swore. How did he forget to lock the door? He guessed he was more distracted than he was willing to admit.

“You look like shit.” Was the first thing Brandi said as she closed the door behind her.

“Yeah well, you aren’t all that hot either.” He answered before going to looking through his bag. “Look, I’m in a hurry so-“

“Why?” Brandi questioned, cutting MJF. “Why did you do it? What did Cody do that was so bad that you chose to betray him like that?”

Max let out a huff as he raised his head to look at Brandi. “I don’t have to explain anything to you and quite frankly, it’s none of your business.” He answered, slipping into his cocky attitude to keep himself from breaking down in front of her.

Brandi rolled her eyes, her hands coming to rest on her hips. “Cody cried.” She started and Max attempted to keep his expression neutral. “He wasted tears over you and that fucking idiot…” Brandi shook her head and let out a chuckle. “He’d take you back. After everything, he still loves you and he’d take you back at the drop of a dime.” She explained and that threw MJF. Brandi could see it on his face as his eyes softened and a sad expression formed on his face. She could see his eyes starting to water but before any tears could fall, he looked down at his bag to shuffle through it again.

“Well, he won’t have to worry about that.” Max cleared his throat to keep his voice from cracking. He found his scarf and quickly pulled it from his bag, throwing it around his shoulders. “You wanna be a good friend? Tell him not to waste anymore tears on me and to move on.” He said as he threw his bag strap over his shoulder. Max moved toward the door, but stopped when Brandi reached out and placed her hand on his chest.

“But why?” She asked again.

“Some things are better left alone…” Max said and then sniffled, but quickly covered it up with a cough. “But, for the record, it wasn’t anything that Cody did.” He added before walking away from Brandi. She watched as Max opened the door and left her behind.

Brandi sighed as she looked away from the door. She thought maybe she could talk some sense into Max or at least get a real answer, but her visit with Max had only led to a half-ass non-answer answer. He said Cody didn’t do anything, but he could be lying just to get away from her or keep Brandi from asking him again. Her mind was already working to come up with another plan when she spotted something on the floor under the bench that Max’s bag was resting on while he went through it.

She figured it was something important, something Max may need. This created a great opportunity for her. She could take the item and let Max know that she had it. When he came to retrieve it, she could hold it over his head and tell him she wouldn’t give it to him until he explained his actions. Brandi quickly moved across the room and picked it up, just in case Max already noticed it was gone and was coming back for it. She grabbed the piece of paper and stuffed it in her pocket before leaving the room. She quickly stepped around the corner so she would be out of sight if Max came back before pulling the paper from her pocket. She opened the the paper and started to read the contents of the message. Brandi gasped and her eyes widened as she read it.

“Oh Max…” Brandi gasped. “That fucking idiot.” She swore as she read the paper. Brandi finished reading and allowed her thoughts to drift back to the night she sat down on Cody's bed and spoke to him about everything that happened. She remembered Cody telling her that before MJF betrayed him, he was touchy-feely and was closer to Cody than ever before. This wasn't a sudden change in attitude and this note proved it. He was over affectionate with Cody because he knew he was going to have to say goodbye to him. He knew he was going to have to do this, and it's probably killing him just as much as it's killing Cody. Brandi let out a sad sigh before making her way down the hall.

She had to tell Cody.

* * *

Max stepped off the hotel elevator into the hallway. He’d finally been able to slip away from Chris and made a mad dash out of the club and back to his hotel. He was glad to finally be out of the man’s clutches. Max sat next to him and listened to all of his uncle’s plans for himself, the inner circle, his title reign, and AEW itself. Max was suppose to feed Chris information and do some of his bidding in order to get to the top and Max was already coming up with small sabotages in his mind. They would be big enough to cause a setback but small enough to not call attention to himself. These sabotages would be his enjoyment, his fun in a shitty situation. 

Max made his way down the hall and found his room. He pulled out his keycard and pressed it to the door. Max heard the electronic lock release and then the green light glowed, signaling he could open the door. Max grabbed the handle and turned it, pushing the door open and walking inside. He made sure the door was closed and locked behind him before moving into the room. All he wanted to do was strip out of his suit and crawl into bed. He reached out and slid his hand along the wall to find the switch. It took a few seconds before he found it, flipping it on before grabbing his scarf. He moved to take it off as he moved to look at his bed. His eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks when he saw that he wasn’t alone.

“Cody…”

Cody smiled as he looked over at MJF. He was casually sitting on the edge of the bed waiting on Max like he would when they were getting ready to go out, or when he waited for Max to join him in bed. “Hey, darling.” He greeted a shocked Maxwell.

Max managed to picked his jaw up from the floor but still couldn’t speak as he watched Cody sit on his bed as if everything was fine, as if he hadn’t betrayed him in his front of the whole entire world. Cody was looking at him fondly, smiling at him as if he was still the light of his life. A part of him loved that Cody still looked at him like that, but he also couldn’t take it. Cody should hate him, be furious with him. Why wasn’t Cody yelling at him, calling him names?

“H-how? Wha-When?” Max turned back to the door before looking back at Cody. His brain was still processing the scene before him and he couldn’t form the question with words, but Cody understood what he was trying to stay.

“I told the front desk that you’re my boyfriend. You are my boyfriend.” Cody explained, leaving out the part where he had Hangman Page pretend to be Max when he gave the hotel clerk his number to verify the information.

Max cleared his throat as he regained his composure. “Not anymore.” Max responded even though it was difficult to say. “You can’t be here. You need to go.” He ordered and a second lapsed before Cody rose from the bed. He thought Cody was actually going to leave his room without a fight. Instead, Cody moved to stand in front of him.

“Cody-.”

“I miss my baby boy.” Cody admitted before reaching out to cup Max’s cheek. Max felt a shiver move through his spine when Cody touched him. He was definitely touch starved but he tried not to lean into the touch or move closer to Cody. Max sighed and reached up to place a hand on Cody’s chest. “I just want to be with you again baby.”

“Don’t.” Max swallowed hard as he went to gently push Cody away. “Don’t...you have to leave. You can’t be here.” He said again. He didn’t know if Chris was keeping eyes on him and if he knew Cody was in his hotel room, it could mean bad news for him. “Go, before I call security.” He threatened and tried to move away from Cody, toward the bed, but Cody’s words stopped him.

“I know.”

Max turned to look at Cody again, eyebrows raised in shock but also in a bit of confusion. “Know what?”

“I know you did what you did to protect me.” Cody said before pulling a piece of paper from his pocket. He held it out for Max and he slowly took it from his ex-lover. Max opened the note and his eyes widened as he read it. 

The note had been left in his locker room after he and Chris got into a nasty verbal argument. The note was meant to put him back in his place:

_ You do what I say, you follow my lead, or I’ll make sure Cody is more than just emotionally hurt -CJ _

Max swallowed as he closed the note. “Cody, I-.”

“It’s okay.” Cody quickly said before stepping back into Max’s space. “It’s okay. I understand. I would of done the same to protect you, but you don’t have to worry anymore. I-.”

“This isn’t it.” Max cut him off and it was Cody’s turn to look confused. “I mean, this was a big reason...but there’s something else. Something I should of told you a long time ago. It was dumb of me to even hide it from you, but I just like to forget...sometimes I really do forget.”

“What are you talking about?” Cody asked.

“I told that I don’t really have a good relationship with my parents.” He started and Cody nodded. “I never told you why...it was difficult growing up in that house. My dad was abusive toward my mom and verbally abusive to me and my siblings...that’s probably why I’m a cocky bastard, or at least that’s what was therapist says but…” He cleared his throat, getting back on topic. “I came out to my parents and my dad flipped. He kicked my ass and then kicked me out, disowned me. I was relieved to be out of that house, but also scared to be on my own. I was also scared that he’d come looking for me for whatever reason so I changed my name. I wasn’t born MJF, I was born MTJ: Maxwell Theodore Jericho...Chris is my father’s brother, my uncle.”

Cody’s eyes widened at the confession. He figured Max’s lack of relationship with his parents was due to his sexuality. He’d seen that before and it was sadly nothing new to him, but the abuse Max suffered made his blood boil . He wanted to find Max’s father and kick his ass for what he’d done to his lover. He didn’t understand what this had to do with what happened at Full Gear until Max revealed he was a Jericho, Chris Jericho’s nephew. He definitely hasn’t been expecting that, but it did bring more clarity to the situation.

“And I know how this looks but I swear I haven’t been working with him all this time, just these past few weeks. I-.” Max reached up to place his hands on Cody’s shoulders. “I’m an idiot. I should of told you as soon as Chris came to AEW but Chris pretended he didn’t know who I was, and I just decided to pretend I didn’t know him outside of his wrestling legacy. I’m so sorry. I don’t know how but I’ll make it up to you.” Max finished and waited for Cody to speak. The longer the silence drug on, the more fearful he became. Maybe Cody wouldn’t forgive him, maybe he’d lost his chance.

“Co-mh.” 

Max was cut off by Cody pressing his lips roughly against his. He wrapped his arms around the other man and pressed his body against Cody’s as the older man’s teeth nibbled at his bottom lip. Max opened his mouth and let Cody’s tongue slide against his, moaning as his taste. He felt Cody backup up and pull him along. Max gladly following him, not wanting to be too far from Cody now that he had him back.

Cody pulled back for a second before pressing his forehead against Max’s. “Don’t lie to me again.” He said, breathing heavily as he regained his breath from their long kiss.

Max nodded. “I won’t.” He promised. He’d definitely be open with Cody from now on.

“And don’t run from me.” Cody ordered before kissing Max again. “I can’t lose you again.”

“You won’t.” Max promised. “I’m yours for as long as you’ll have me.” He said and returned the kiss. Cody moaned into the kiss before pulling away and pushing Max down onto the bed. Max let out a little ‘oof’ as he hit the mattress. He looked up at Cody as he moved to stand over him.

“I have some pretty good ideas on how you can make it up to me.” He explained and Max smirked as he held out his hand.

“Oh really?” He questioned. “Why don’t you tell me all about them.” Max said and watched Cody climb on top of him, pressing his lips to Max’s ear. Max couldn’t help the low moan that fell from his lips as Cody whispered promises and ideas that were going to bring the both of them so much pleasure. 

“I’m going to wreck you.” Cody breathed out and Max let out low whimper.

“Please.”

**Author's Note:**

> queenielacy.tumblr.com


End file.
